Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence

This panel represents the torture of Saint Lawrence, an early Christian martyr who was persecuted and condemned to death on the gridiron by the Roman Emperor Valerian. According to legend, the saint’s naked body was miraculously untouched by the flames. The panel was originally part of a predella, a band of scenes set below the central image of an altarpiece. A second panel from this predella, depicting Saint Francis, is also in the Museum’s collection (17.521).